"I've always written. There's a journal which I kept from about 9 years old. The man who gave it to me lived across the street from the store and kept it when my grandmother's papers were destroyed. I'd written some essays. I loved poetry, still do. But I really, really loved it then."
Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She is best known for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and for her autobiographical writing. Her work and public voice made her one of the most influential literary figures of her generation.